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Osteoarthritis is a number one explanation for persistent ache, usually affecting bodily operate, every day actions, and high quality of life. EULAR—The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology—has developed suggestions and scientific observe tips for the administration of osteoarthritis within the hand, hip, and knee.
However individuals are usually handled by completely different well being care professionals, and there may be little data about which specialists see sufferers during which section of the illness—and whether or not the rules are carried out in real-world settings.
In a session on the 2025 EULAR congress in Barcelona, vital findings have been introduced from the BLOAR registry, taking in knowledge from 1,716 folks with osteoarthritis handled in on a regular basis scientific observe in Austria. This registry collects complete scientific and demographic data from physicians and therapists, in addition to patient-reported outcomes comparable to data on ache, high quality of life, bodily exercise, and illness severity.
The findings present that most individuals are being handled for osteoarthritis within the knee (52.2%), adopted by hand (23.5%), hip (17.7%), and different joints (6.7%). Over 80% have been reasonably or severely affected by their illness, and 16% reported having diminished their workhours or having misplaced their job. On a scale of 1–100, ache was on common 24.7 at relaxation, and 42.8 throughout exercise.
Total, 67.0% reported consultations and visits to docs; 61.4% had acquired bodily remedy (lively, purposeful remedy with a licensed bodily therapist) and 60.4% had bodily remedy (medically prescribed passive modalities comparable to electrotherapy, warmth, chilly, ultrasound, or hydrotherapy). Nonetheless, surprisingly, solely 11.8% reported having acquired dietary interventions and weight administration packages. Solely 37.5% have been utilizing drugs, together with pain-relief, however many individuals have been taking nutritional vitamins (40.3%) and plant-based merchandise (12.6%).
The outcomes present a big hole between real-world observe and the present EULAR suggestions. Interventions round weight administration are strongly emphasised within the tips, which state that “people with hip or knee osteoarthritis should be offered education on the importance of maintaining a healthy weight; those overweight or obese should be offered support to achieve and maintain weight loss,” however in real-world settings these approaches are usually not getting used, with solely about 10% of sufferers receiving such assist.
Valentina Schmolik mentioned, “While close to 70% of patients receive consultations and physical therapy or physical therapy, there is a high prevalence of non-evidence-based treatments, such as taking vitamins and plant-based products—neither of which are recommended by EULAR—and this is surprising.”
The authors say these findings from BLOAR underscore the necessity to elevate consciousness of evidence-based interventions in scientific observe, and to implement them extra successfully.
Well being care suppliers ought to prioritize aligning remedy approaches with established tips to optimize outcomes for folks with osteoarthritis. Moreover, the recognition of non-standardized therapies suggests the significance of understanding affected person preferences and addressing misconceptions by means of focused schooling and communication methods.
Extra data:
Schmolik V, et al. Well being companies utilization within the Austrian osteoarthritis registry present a excessive stage of non-evidence-based therapies. Introduced at EULAR 2025; OP0236-HPR. DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2025-eular.C381
Supplied by
European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, EULAR
Quotation:
Osteoarthritis: Too many non-evidence-based therapies? (2025, June 13)
retrieved 14 June 2025
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